BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 62,767
- Reaction score
- 20,126
- Points
- 113
per SI:
Gaze at the Minnesota Twins’ all-time leaders, and Joe Mauer will be in 27 different categories. Nestled among franchise icons like Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and Kirby Puckett, Mauer sits near the top of the the traditional categories (hits, on-base percentage, runs), the favored sabermetric stats (total WAR, weighted runs created, win probability added) and the ignominious distinctions (strikeouts, double plays grounded into, outs made). All of which is to say that Mauer is a lifelong Minnesota Twin, and his No. 7 will likely be retired sometime in the next decade. Mauer announced earlier this month that he will consider retirement in the offseason after 15 seasons in the big leagues
Add his records to his status as hometown hero—the St. Paul-raised three-sport prep star drafted first overall by the Twins—and you’d think his reputation would be pristine in a city fiercely defensive of its own.
That was all true until he made $23 million per year.
A vocal subset of Twins fans want Mauer out, arguing that he is undeserving of the eight-year, $184 million contract he signed in 2010. They cite statistics (he hasn’t hit more than 11 homers since signing the contract after hitting 28 in 2009), his effort level (many questioned why he missed almost half the season with bilateral leg weakness in '11) and his personality (rote and stilted to many). Some think it’s restricted to the darker corners of Twins internet. Others think it’s more than a vocal minority.
“Some of us started to call him ‘Baby Jesus,’” says Andy Rennecke, a former sportswriter and Twins lifer who is a proud Mauer cynic. “It felt like you couldn’t be critical of Joe because everybody felt like he walked on water. He was one of us. How dare anyone be critical of him.”
“Had [Mauer] left for the Red Sox or Yankees in 2010, those same fans who are calling for his head now would have burned down Target Field,” says Aaron Gleeman, Editor-in-Chief of Baseball Prospectus and host of the Twins podcast Gleeman and the Geek. “There are all sorts of these inferiority complexes at play and there are some fans where no amount of context matters, they just like to get mad.”
His laconic disposition doesn’t endear himself to everyone, and those critics are further emboldened by the team’s disappointing 2018 campaign. After reaching the AL Wild-Card Game last year against the Yankees, Minnesota is 72–83 as the season nears its conclusion. Mauer’s fine if unremarkable season sits at .276/.344/.374 with six homers, his lowest total in a season which he’s played over 100 games. Rennecke says the fan base didn’t really sour on Mauer until 2011, when the $23 million man played only 82 games because of bilateral leg weakness—an injury indecipherable and thus unacceptable to a lot of the fan base.
“Joe’s personality lends itself to a lot of ridicule. He shows no emotions, he’s always the same guy. He’s almost like a robot,” Rennecke says. “So, when he was suffering from a mysterious injury like “bilateral leg weakness” in 2011 and getting $23 million per season while the team was tanking, fans started to rebel against him.
“In Minnesota, we're hardworking people and don't like it if you're being paid and you’re not out there performing.”
https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/09/25/joe-mauer-minnesota-twins
Win Twins!!
Gaze at the Minnesota Twins’ all-time leaders, and Joe Mauer will be in 27 different categories. Nestled among franchise icons like Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and Kirby Puckett, Mauer sits near the top of the the traditional categories (hits, on-base percentage, runs), the favored sabermetric stats (total WAR, weighted runs created, win probability added) and the ignominious distinctions (strikeouts, double plays grounded into, outs made). All of which is to say that Mauer is a lifelong Minnesota Twin, and his No. 7 will likely be retired sometime in the next decade. Mauer announced earlier this month that he will consider retirement in the offseason after 15 seasons in the big leagues
Add his records to his status as hometown hero—the St. Paul-raised three-sport prep star drafted first overall by the Twins—and you’d think his reputation would be pristine in a city fiercely defensive of its own.
That was all true until he made $23 million per year.
A vocal subset of Twins fans want Mauer out, arguing that he is undeserving of the eight-year, $184 million contract he signed in 2010. They cite statistics (he hasn’t hit more than 11 homers since signing the contract after hitting 28 in 2009), his effort level (many questioned why he missed almost half the season with bilateral leg weakness in '11) and his personality (rote and stilted to many). Some think it’s restricted to the darker corners of Twins internet. Others think it’s more than a vocal minority.
“Some of us started to call him ‘Baby Jesus,’” says Andy Rennecke, a former sportswriter and Twins lifer who is a proud Mauer cynic. “It felt like you couldn’t be critical of Joe because everybody felt like he walked on water. He was one of us. How dare anyone be critical of him.”
“Had [Mauer] left for the Red Sox or Yankees in 2010, those same fans who are calling for his head now would have burned down Target Field,” says Aaron Gleeman, Editor-in-Chief of Baseball Prospectus and host of the Twins podcast Gleeman and the Geek. “There are all sorts of these inferiority complexes at play and there are some fans where no amount of context matters, they just like to get mad.”
His laconic disposition doesn’t endear himself to everyone, and those critics are further emboldened by the team’s disappointing 2018 campaign. After reaching the AL Wild-Card Game last year against the Yankees, Minnesota is 72–83 as the season nears its conclusion. Mauer’s fine if unremarkable season sits at .276/.344/.374 with six homers, his lowest total in a season which he’s played over 100 games. Rennecke says the fan base didn’t really sour on Mauer until 2011, when the $23 million man played only 82 games because of bilateral leg weakness—an injury indecipherable and thus unacceptable to a lot of the fan base.
“Joe’s personality lends itself to a lot of ridicule. He shows no emotions, he’s always the same guy. He’s almost like a robot,” Rennecke says. “So, when he was suffering from a mysterious injury like “bilateral leg weakness” in 2011 and getting $23 million per season while the team was tanking, fans started to rebel against him.
“In Minnesota, we're hardworking people and don't like it if you're being paid and you’re not out there performing.”
https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/09/25/joe-mauer-minnesota-twins
Win Twins!!
